Coin holder



NOV. 22, 1960 DESCARRlEs 2,961,153

COIN HOLDER Filed July 28, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 FIG. 3

A; Arron/1.

Nov. 22, 1960 R. DESCARRIES COIN HOLDER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 28, 1958 FIG. 6

FIG. 7

A; Arrv/FA/EK Nuv. 22, 1960 R. DESCARRIES 2,961,153

com HOLDER Filed July 28, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 BY Q/W Nov. 22, 1960 R. DESCARRIES 2,961,153

COIN HOLDER Filed July 28, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

COIN HOLDER Raymond Descarries, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, as-

signor to Aktieholaget Electrolux, Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed July 28, 1958, Ser. No. 751,304

9 Claims. (Cl. 2324) This invention relates to coin holders, and particularly to an improved coin holder especially suited for use as a toy bank.

While prior-art workers have proposed various coin holder constructions wherein access to the coin holder could not be gained until a predetermined number of coins had been inserted, such constructions have not been entirely satisfactory and it is a general object of the invent.on to provide an improved coin holder of this general type.

Another object is to provide, in a coin holder having a closure which is normally locked to prevent access to the holder, novel means for automatically conditioning the closure for opening only in response to insertion of the last coin of a sufiicient number to produce a stack of predetermined length.

A further object .s to devise such a coin holder wherein the closure is conditioned for opening in response to the movement of a resiliently biased coin follower, the arrangement being such that the resilient means biasing the follower is not disposed between the follower and the closure.

Yet another object to provide, in a coin holder of the type referred to, a novel arrangement for indicating at all times the value of the accumulated coins held in the container.

in order that the manner in which these and other objects are achieved in accordance with the invention can be understood in detail, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, whQch form a part of this specification, and wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a coin holder constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the same;

Figs. 4 and 5 are elevational views of the opposite ends of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view taken along the line 66, Fig. 2, and showing an inside elevation of one of the sections of which the article is made, the coin chamber being p y;

Fig. 7 is a similar view with the coin chamber full;

Fig. 8 is a central horizontal section substantially on the line 8-3, Fig. 6, but showing the complete assembly, comprising both sections;

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view, substantially on the line 99, Fig. 6, but showing the complete assembly;

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing an inside elevation of the other section;

Fig. ll is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section on an enlarged scale showing the right hand end of the casing as illustrated in Fig. 7, with the closure member locked;

Fig. 12 is a similar view showing the closure member released, and illustrating in broken lines the open position of such closure member;

Fig. 13 is an elevational viewof the manually operated push bar shown in Figs. 11 and 12;

atent Patented Nov. 22, 1950 Fig. 14 is an inside elevation of the closure member shown in Figs. 11 and 12;

Fig. 15 is a transverse horizontal section taken on line 15-15, Fig. 14;

Fig. 16 is a fragmentary sectional view of the right hand end of the casing illustrated in Fig. 7 and substantially on the same scale, showing a modified latch construction, and

Fig. 17 is a similar view showing such latch in released position, and illustrating in broken lines the open position of the closure member.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the embodiment of the invention illustrated simulates a vacuum cleaner having a handle 4 and comprises an elongated casing formed in two sections 1 1 secured together in any suitable fashion. The two sections 1*, 1 can be molded from a suitable synthetic resin, die cast from metal, or otherwise suitably fabricated and have matching fiat surfaces 2 2*, Figs. 6 and 10, held in abutting relationship by pins 3 engaged in sockets 4'.

The casing has at one end a fixed end wall 5 formed with a central window 6, as seen in Fig. 4. At the opposite end of the casing is a closure member 7, in cluding a downwardly and rearwardly directed arm 7 which extends below the casing and is pivotally mounted thereon by a transversely extending pivot pin 8, Fig. 6, the member 7 being arranged to swing around the pivot pin into closed and open positions.

The hollow casing defines a cylindrical chamber 9, of such diameter as to snugly embrace a stack of the particular coins to be held. At one end of the chamber, on the underside of the device, there is provided a transverse slot 10 via which the coins are inserted.

Mounted to reciprocate freely in the chamber 9 is a fiat coin follower 11, the shape of which is shown in plan in Fig. 9. The thickness of the follower is substantially less than the transverse dimension of the chamber, so that as little as possible of the coin-receiving space is taken up by the follower. To maintain the follower 11 in its proper position, extending transversely of the chamber, the follower is provided at each side with a gufde 12, the guides working in grooves or guide tracks 13, formed on the inner surface of the sections 1 and 1 respectively and extending longitudinally of the casing. The guides 12 are wholly disposed within the guide tracks 13 so they too will not decrease the space available for storing coins.

At the end of the casing adjacent the coin slot 10 is a chamber 14 separated from the chamber 9 by a transversely extending wall 15. This wall, on the side facing the chamber 9 and adjacent the coin slot 10, is formed with a beveled or inclined portion 16 which serves to guide or direct the coins into the chamber 9. As seen in Fig. 7, when at least one coin is in the chamber and between wall 15 and follower 11, such coin cooperates with beveled or inclined portion 16 to define a wedgelike space, so that the leading edge of the next-inserted coin slides along a side surface of the coin which has already been inserted. Thus, the newly inserted coin is positively guided to proper position without danger of jamming.

Mounted in the chamber 14 is a reel or spool 17 on which is disposed a spiral spring 18, of flat metal tape, the inner end of the spring being attached to the spool, the outer end to follower 11. The wall 15 does not extend completely across the chamber 9, but stops short of the upper wall of chamber 9 to provide an opening through which the metal tape 18 can pass from chamber 14 to chamber 9. The tape 18, in passing from chamber 14 to chamber 9, extends within a channel 18 formed in the upper portion of the chamber, as best seen in Fig. '9 The tape passes between the upper portion of follower 11 and channel 180 and the free end 19 of tape 18 is secured to the forward side of the follower 11 by means of a small thumb screw 20 threaded into the follower.

Formed in the inner wall of one of the sections such as 1 adjacent the closure'm'ember 7 at the forward end of the casing, is a notch 21 forming a shoulder or keeper 22, as best seen in Fig. 12. A latch member 23 is slideably mounted in closure member 7 and has a nose 24 construc'ted to enter the notch 21, one side of this nose being flat, as indicated at 25, and adapted to engage the shoulder or keeper 22. As shown in Figs. 14 and 15, the latch 23 is held in position on the member 7 by means of a retaining plate v26, fastened to the closure member by screws 27 and having at its center an elongated opening 28, the purpose of which will hereinafter more fully appear.

Also slidably mounted on the closure member 7 and in face-to-face contact with the latchmember 23 is a manually-operated latch release .bar 29, having at its upper end an exposed portion 30 by which the bar can be manipulated. Both the latch member 23 and the latch release bar 29 fit within a channel formed in the inner face of the closure member 7, as seen in Fig. 15.

The manually-operated bar 29, the shape of which is best shown in Fig. 13, is formed near its center with a circular opening 31 which is of exactly the same size and registers with a circular socket 32 formed in the forward face of the latch member 23. Both the latch member 23 and latch release bar 29 are yieldingly urged to their uppermost locking positions, shown in Fig. 11, by means of aspring 33. This spring is advantageously formed of a single piece of resilient wire having a fiat portion supported on the shoulder in the closure member 7, the wire being bent into U-shaped form, as indicated at 33 and provided at the other end with a pair of spaced; upwardly slanting arms 33*, constructed to engage under the lower ends of the latch and bar respectively, as shown in Fig. 11.

Enclosed and freely slideable within the socket 32, and constituting part of the latch member, is a stud or coupling member 34, having a central rearward extension 35, of reduced diameter, projecting through a hole of corresponding diameter in latch member 23 and through the opening 28 in the plate 26 and positioned to be engaged by the thumb screw 20, also as shown in Fig. 11. Interposed between the stud 34 and the bottom of the channel in which the latch and push bar are received is a helical spring 37, which normally holds the stud 34 in the socket 32 of latch member 23 as shown in Fig. 11, where it is stopped by engagement with an annular flange 36 formed on the latch 23.

As shown in Fig. 13, the latch release bar 29 is formed with an elongated notch 38 extending upwardly from the central opening 31 and of such size as to receive the spring 37 when the push bar is depressed. It will be seen that, with the parts in the position shown in Figs. 11 and 15,

r the bar 29 can be freely operated entirely independently of the latch 23 and has no effect whatever on the latch. The operation of this form of the device is as follows.

' Normally the follower 11 is held by the resilience of the spring tape 18 in contact with the wall 15, as in Fig. 6. As successive coins are inserted through the slot 10, they force the follower 11 progressively toward the right until the chamber 9 becomes filled with coins, as in Fig. 7. As the follower moves towards the right, the resilient tape 18 is unwound from the reel or spool 17, a progressively increasing length thereof extending along beside the stack of coins, as indicated inFig. 7. 'Finally when the last coin, x, required to completely fill the chamber is inserted,

the thumb screw 20, carried by the plunger, engages extension 35 of stud 34 and forces the stud into the opening 31o'f the latch release bar 29, compressing the spring 37 and effectively coupling bar 29 with latch 23. If the operator now presses exposed button portion 30 to depress bar 29, the latch 23, being coupled to the push bar 29, is also depressed, as indicated 'in Fig. 12, and i'saccordingly disengaged from keeper 22, so that the latch is released and the closure member 7 can swing about its pivot 8 to open position, indicated in broken lines in Fig. 12. Thereupon, by grasping the thumb screw 20, the operator can pull the follower 11 outwardly far enough to allow the coins to discharge from behind the follower, the tape 18 being of such length to permit this.

, A series of figures or other suitable indicia is provided on the tape 18, indicating the value of the coins accumulated in the holder, the figures being visible through the window 6 so that by observing the particular figure displayed through this window at any time it is possible to determine at a glance the value of the coins accumulated up to that time.

In Figs. 16 and 17, there is illustrated a modified latch arrangement for locking the closure member in position. Referring to these figures it will be seen that this embodiment includes a latch member 23, pivotally mounted at its upper end on the closure member 7 as indicated at 39. A bow spring 40 bears against the side of the latch opposite the follower and normally serves to hold it in engagement with the notch 21; When, however, the last coin required to fill the holder to a predetermined extent is inserted, the thumb screw 20 engages a part of the latch member 23, swinging it about its pivot 39, so as to disengage it from the notch 21, as shown in Fig. 17, whereby the latch is released and the closure member can swing about its pivot to open position, indicated in bro-ken lines. In this arrangement the latch is automatically released by the insertion of the last coin, while in the preferred form, previously described, the latch is not automatically released, insertion of the last coin serving to render the push button operative to release the latch.

What is claimed is:

1. In a coin holder, the combination of a casing defining a coin-storage chamber having an open end, a closure member operatively disposed with respect to said open end and movable between open and closed positions, a keeper on said casing, a rigid latch member carried by and movable relative to said closure member, resilient means biasing said latch member towards engagement with said keeper when said closure member is in said closed position, a latch actuator carried by said closure member for movement therewith between open and closed positions, said latch actuator being transversely movable relative to said closure member and having an exposed end portion adapted to be manually operated, and means operative in response to accumulation of a number of coins in said chamber sufficient to produce a stack of predetermined length for interconnecting said latch member and said latch actuator whereby manual operation 'of said latch actuator moves said latch member against the bias of said resilient means and away from engagement with said keeper to allow movement of said closure member from said closed position to said open position.

2. In a coin holder, the combination of a casing defining a coin-storage chamber having an open end, a closure member operatively associated with said open end to close the same, a follower disposed within said chamber, resilient means biasing said follower in a direction away from said open end, said follower'being moved toward said closure member as coins are successively deposited in said chamber, a movable latch'member carried by said closure member and extending transversely of said chamber, a keeper carried by said casing and disposed to cooperate with saidlatch member to sec re said closure member in closed position, a movable latch actuator carried by said closure member'and normally independent of said latch member, and means operated by said follower engaging apart of said latch member, in response to insertion of the last of a number of coins necessary to produce a stack of predetermined length, for coupling said latch member to said actuator, whereby movement of said actuator will then disengage said latch member from said keeper.

3. A coin holder in accordance with claim 2 and wherein said latch member is mounted for slidable movement into and out of engagement with said keeper and said actuator is mounted beside said latch member for slidable movement in the same direction and is provided with an exposed end portion by which it may be actuated.

4. A coin holder in accordance with claim 3 further comprising resilient means urging said latch member into engagement with said keeper, and said actuator to a position in which said end portion projects from said closure, said latch member and said actuator each being provided with an opening, said openings being in substantial registry when said latch member and actuator occupy the positions to which they are urged by said resilient means, a coupling element slidable in said openings, and spring means normally urging said coupling element toward said follower and out of the opening in said actuator, said coupling element having a portion disposed for engagement by said follower.

5. In a coin holder, the combination of a casing defining an elongated coin-storage chamber having an open end; a closure member pivotally mounted on said casing and disposed to close said end of the chamber; a coin follower in said chamber; resilient means connected to said follower and operative to urge the follower along said chamber in a direction away from said closure member, said casing being provided with an opening, spaced from said closure member, through which coins can be inserted into said chamber, the insertion of successive coins serving to force said follower toward said closure member against the opposing force of said resilient means; lock means including a movable latch member carried by said closure member and extending generally transversely of said chamber, a keeper carried by said casing and disposed for engagement by said latch member, and resilient means carried by said closure member and connected with said latch member to urge the same into engagement with said keeper; a latch actuating member movably mounted on said closure member and normally independent of said latch member; and means actuated by said follower, upon insertion of a sufficient number of coins in said chamber to produce a stack of predetermined length, for coupling said latch member to said latch actuating member to thereby enable said latch member to be disengaged from said keeper by movement of said latch actuating member.

6. In a coin holder, the combination of a casing defining an elongated coin-storage chamber having an open end; a closure member pivotally mounted on said casing and disposed to close said end of the chamber; a coin follower in said chamber; resilient means including an elongated element secured at one end to said follower and at the other end to said casing at the end thereof opposite said closure member, and extending along beside the coins inserted in said chamber, said casing being provided with an opening, spaced from said closure member, through which coins can be inserted into said chamber, the insertion of successive coins serving to force said follower toward said closure member against the opposing force of said resilient means; lock means including a movable latch member carried by said closure member and extending generally transversely of said chamber; a keeper carried by said casing and disposed for engagement by said latch member, and resilient means carried by said closure member and connected with said latch member to urge the same into engagement with said keeper; and means operated by said follower engaging a part of said latch member, upon insertion of a sufficient number of coins into said chamber to produce a stack of predetermined length, to unlock said lock means.

7. A coin holder constructed in accordance with claim 6 wherein said latch member is pivotally mounted on said closure member at a point adjacent the edge of said closure member and is provided with a portion extending inwardly from said point generally along the inner face of said closure member, pivotal movement of said latch member in a direction to move said portion away from the closure member causing the latch member to engage said keeper when said closure member is in closed position; said coin follower carrying abutment means disposed to engage said portion of said latch member and pivot the latch member out of engagement with said keeper when the last of a sufiicient number of coins to produce a stack of predetermined length is inserted in said chamber.

8. In a coin holder, the combination of a casing defining an elongated coin-storage chamber having an open end, a closure member movably mounted on said casing to close said open end, a coin follower disposed in said chamber, a reel carried within said casing, an elongated flexible member carried by said reel and having an end attached to said coin follower, said casing being provided with a window through which a surface of said flexible member can be viewed, such surface of the flexible member being provided with indicia normally representing the value of the coins accumulated in said chamber, as indicated by the position of said coin follower, latch means carried by said closure member to retain the same in closed position, and means whereby said latch means can be actuated, to release said cover, after a suflicient number of coins have accumulated in said chamber to produce a stack of predetermined length.

9. A coin holder in accordance with claim 8 wherein said elongated flexible member is a spring metal tape normally wound on said reel and effective to bias said coin follower against the coins accumulated in said chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 463,250 Koopman Nov. 17, 1891 

